Every year between 2004 and 2013, swathes of cabbage grown in fields and greenhouses across New York were attacked by a lethal bacteria that severely wilted the leaves, sometimes making the vegetables appear scorched. For over a century, little was known about this untreatable plant epidemic called black rot, which threatens food security worldwide.<\/p>\n
But a group of scientists in Singapore has, for the first time, identified how this \"crop killer\" bacteria hijack plants at the molecular level and cripple their immune systems.<\/p>\n
Their findings will pave the way for plant biologists to better treat infected plants and find ways to rear bacteria-resistant crops without using genetic engineering, said the study's lead, Associate Professor Miao Yansong from Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n
\"For some of the devastating disease in agriculture, the whole field has to be burnt,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prof Miao and his team found that the black rot-causing bacteria, called Xanthomonas, inject toxic proteins into plant cells. The surface of plant cells contains substances that activate an immune response against diseases.But the toxic proteins form a sticky network, adhering to the cell surface and hijacking the plant's defense mechanisms.<\/p>\n
Read the complete article at http:\/\/www.straitstimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read the original here: Every year between 2004 and 2013, swathes of cabbage grown in fields and greenhouses across New York were attacked by a lethal bacteria that severely wilted the leaves, sometimes making the vegetables appear scorched. For over a century, little was known about this untreatable plant epidemic called black rot, which threatens food security worldwide. Continue reading
\nSingapore scientists uncover secret of the black rot in vegetable crops - hortidaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"